The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant, botanically known as Hydrangea hybrida, hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 1701.
The new Hydrangea is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands and Glandorf, Germany. The objective of the breeding program was to create new stronger-growing Hydrangeas with attractive flower bract coloration and no vernalization requirement.
The new Hydrangea originated from a cross-pollination conducted in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands on Jul. 20, 1999 of a proprietary selection of Hydrangea hybrida identified as code number 98122-05, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Hydrangea hybrida identified as code number 98002, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar 1701 was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Glandorf, Germany on Mar. 14, 2001.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by vegetative cuttings at Glandorf, Germany, since Mar. 15, 2003, has shown that the unique features of this new Hydrangea are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.